Elizabeth Smart

Nine months in captivity pedophile

The American schoolgirl victim of kidnapping.

Author: Ivan Matkovskiy

evening of June 4 2002, residents of Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah), Edward (Edward) and Lois Smart (Lois Smart) at the award ceremony held at the school his daughter Elizabeth. Back home, the smart quietly retreated to bed; bedtime Edward once again made sure that all the doors are securely locked, but did not include an alarm. Smart senior afraid that the alarm can be triggered if someone of his six children want to walk at night. Edward could not even suggest what issues would help him to avoid triggering the alarm.

The intruder – someone Brian David Mitchell (Brian David Mitchell) – broke into the house Smarts early in the morning, in fact, even at night. The man crept into the room that Elizabeth Smart shared with her younger sister, Mary Katherine (Mary Katherine). Mary pretended to be fast asleep, and was subsequently able to describe (albeit extremely inaccurately) the unfortunate incident this morning.

According to the girl, the thief – a white haired man 30-40 years in bright clothing – guided Elizabeth gun. Calm gentle tone he ordered Elizabeth to shut up and led her out of the room. Later the police found that the testimony of Mary there were many inaccuracies. Thief Elizabeth was dressed in black, described the girl hats golfer it was not, and he was not threatened with a pistol, and a knife.

The voice of the kidnapper Mary appeared vaguely familiar, but his face, she really had not considered. In creaking floorboards girl could determine exactly where the sister and her abductor. When the footsteps died away, Mary ran to her parents; haste nearly cost her freedom – as it turned out, Mitchell and Elizabeth has not left the house, and only stopped at the bedroom boys. Mary’s fear returned to the bedroom and hid under the covers; Judging by indirect evidence, she dared to come out only after more than two hours.

At about 4 am, Mary woke the parents, telling them the terrible news. My father did not immediately believed her daughter, and only traces of hacking Edward Smart convinced that Mary did not retell it excessively realistic nightmare.

The next day, Edward and Lois were on television with an appeal to the kidnapper; parallel search was organized by Brian and his victim. Looking were involved more than 2000 volunteers; number of network resources took the active dissemination of information about the missing girl and her kidnappers. The surroundings were literally flipped upside down; Alas, neither the volunteers nor the sniffer dogs, no air reconnaissance could not find anything. Over time, it became clear that Mitchell caught in hot pursuit useless, and that it is time to other methods.

The situation is considerably complicated by the dearth of accurate information – the only witness, Mary Catherine, nothing particularly valuable to inform the authorities and could not. Fingerprints and DNA at the crime scene also failed to detect. The police checked everyone who is even remotely arouse suspicion; for a while the suspect was considered a promising 26-year-old drifter Bret Michael Edmunds (Bret Michael Edmunds), but later it became clear that he was a missing Elizabeth to do. Later, the police moved on to a certain Richard Ricky (Richard Ricci), for a time worked in the house of Smarts and previously to break the law. Ricky was accused in a series of robberies, and got into the house he robbed about the same as an unknown thief. Alas, and this clue to nothing lead – Ricky refused to cooperate with the authorities and a few weeks later he died in prison of a brain hemorrhage.

Smartas continued to regularly communicate with the press, by all means not letting others to forget about the missing daughter; alas, it is little help. The breakthrough came in October 2002, and, oddly enough, they are obliged to Smartas were all the same, Mary Catherine. After a few months, she finally realized where she could hear the voice of the kidnapper before – as it turned out, it belonged to certain ‘Emmanuel’ (Emmanuel). A man with the same name and really spent some time working on a smart – all those actively supporting the unemployed by offering them all sorts of side income. Emmanuel tranquil voice, politeness and deep religiosity – according to rumors, he sincerely considered himself a prophet of God and for others homeless acted as a kind of shepherd.

Police on new indications Mary reacted sceptically – the girl did not really hear the voice of the kidnapper, and it dawned on her after too long a period of time.

Smartas took matters into her own hands; with the support of the artist, they made a rough portrait of ‘Emmanuel’ and presented it in the air a series of programs – including, ‘America’s Most Wanted’. Soon it came to fruition – appealed to the smart home ‘Emmanuel’. From that moment the police took up the search for Brian David Mitchell (Brian David Mitchell); relatives kindly provided detectives relatively good photos kidnapper.

Catch Mitchell succeeded thanks all the same program ‘America’s Most Wanted’.

13 March 2003 a biker who saw the eve story about the kidnapping of Elizabeth Mitchell learned in the ordinary traveler. Came to the rescue police arrested Mitchell and his two companions – Wanda Eileen Barzov (Wanda Ileen Barzee) and carefully disguised Elizabeth Smart.

Indications Elizabeth helped to reconstruct what happened. After the abduction Mitchell brought the girl in a hut in the forest; where they met Wanda Barzov

and. The girl was dressed in a kind of robe, then Mitchell … I married the captive with yourself.

Over the next months, Mitchell and Elizabeth Barzov turned life into hell shaped. Brian regularly raped Elizabeth forced her to watch porn and watered spirits. Barzov, the original Mitchell’s wife, did not prevent him to mock the poor girl.

The sentence is not carried kidnappers once – a long time it was unclear whether they should be judged or treated in a psychiatric hospital. Ultimately Barzov and Mitchell declared malingerers – number of psychiatrists confirmed that at least Mitchell able to objectively assess the reality and the carefully simulated religious psychosis does not suffer. Wanda November 17, 2009 at a cost of complicity in the abduction received 15 years in prison, the very same ‘Emmanuel’ on May 25, 2011, the court sentenced to life imprisonment. Depart punished criminals and to this day.